Israel Rejects Genocide Charges, Tells World Court It Must Defend Itself

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Israel called on the International Court of Justice to dismiss the case as groundless.

THE HAGUEโ€”Israel on Friday rejected as false and โ€œgrossly distortedโ€ accusations brought by South Africa at the U.N.โ€™s top court that its military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign against Palestinians.

Arguing it was acting to defend itself and was fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, Israel called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismiss the case as groundless and reject South Africaโ€™s request to order it to halt the offensive.

โ€œThis is no genocide,โ€ lawyer Malcolm Shaw said.

South Africa told the court on Thursday that Israelโ€™s aerial and ground offensiveโ€”which, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, has killed almost 24,000 peopleโ€”aimed to bring about โ€œthe destruction of the populationโ€ of Gaza. The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Israel rejected the accusations, saying it respected international law and had a right to defend itself.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after a cross-border rampage on Oct. 7 by terrorists from Hamas, which is sworn to Israelโ€™s destruction. Israeli officials said 1,200 people were killed, mainly civilians, and 240 were taken hostage.

โ€œThe appalling suffering of civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, is first and foremost the result of Hamasโ€™ strategy,โ€ the Israeli foreign ministryโ€™s legal adviser, Tal Becker told the court.

โ€œIf there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel,โ€ Mr. Becker said. โ€œHamas seeks genocide against Israel.โ€

The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as โ€œacts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.โ€

Suffering

Israel, its defense team argued, was doing what it could to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, including efforts to urge Palestinians to evacuate.

The court is expected to rule later this month on possible emergency measuresโ€”including South Africaโ€™s request that it order Israel to halt its offensive.

Byย Reuters

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